Ahad Cheema Meets his Wife in NAB Custody

According to sources, the meeting between Ahad Cheema and his wife sustained for about one hour in which he told her that neither he was threatened nor tortured in any way by the NAB officials.

Ahad Cheema; a Grade 19 officer at the time of arrest, has been promoted to Grade 20 while being on remand in NAB custody. His promotion is unprecedented and caused immense rift in bureaucracy, lately. He was arrested last week for corruption charges in Ashiana Housing Scheme and was also deemed responsible for the fire-breakout in LDA plaza few years back.

Accused Ahad Cheema in Nab Custody Met his Wife for One Hour.

According to the press release, NAB stressed the fact that it had been working in complete compliance with the law. “NAB does not believe in discriminating against anyone. Ahad Cheema’s meeting with his wife continued for one hour and the two were not interrupted at all as the NAB honoured everyone’s self-respect in accordance with the law”, the press release read.

Press-release by Nab

Moreover, it added that Ahad Cheema was physically in top-shape and the picture released was a reflection of the same. Important to note here that Cheema’s wife claimed in a private news-channel interview that he was sick and she could not get him medication due to his sudden arrest.

His 21 properties; details surfaced on Sunday, are of substantial value both in Pakistan and abroad yet he claims to be innocent without revealing the sources.

Early on, NAB had arrested Ashiyana Housing Scheme (AHS) contractor Shahid Shafiq, who is the CEO of a C-grade EPC company; Bismillah Engineering, based on the testimony of former director general (DG) LDA Ahad Khan Cheema.

By C-grade company we mean that company is only eligible for the contracts of worth Rs. 150 million, as determined by Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), but former Lahore Development Authority Director, Ahad Cheema, illegally gave the Bismillah Engineering Company, headed by Shahid Shafique, contracts worth Rs. 14 billion.
Shahid Shafique Behind the Bars

District Court Lahore granted the 15-day physical remand of Shahid Shafique to National Accountability Bureau on Sunday.

Pertinent to note here that clearly-biased policies of Punjab government and the presence and influence of corrupt individuals in the government and in bureaucracy sparked friction in the top-management.

In an emergency meetup of civil servants two days ago, a resolution was passed to request the Supreme Court to take the suo motu notice for the arrest of Cheema. As according to the perturbed (not so innocent) individuals, “it’s below human dignity and its an effort to malign the reputation of civil servants. The resolution termed the act of NAB as misuse of authority”.

He further told that NAB caused panic and immense disturbance in the bureaucratic circle and in the family of the accused as Cheema’s picture of “behind the bars” was released without completing the legal procedures.

Maryam Iraj is a Fulbright scholar for the cross-cultural exchange program to UC Davis and an MPhil graduate in TESL from BNU. She regularly writes for Baaghi and occasionally for other national dailies. Her writing interests are inclusive of sociopolitical discourse, celebrity interviews, and literature reviews.